Don’t Sulk!
One of the worst kings that we read of in the Bible was King Ahab - really a godless man who led Israel astray in a terrible way.
A Sulking King
There are some lessons I learned from him in 1 Kings 21. As I was reading it the other day, Ahab wanted to buy a vineyard from somebody else, but the man who owned it said, “Nope, I'm not going to give it to you.” And look at this in verse four: “Ahab went home sullen and angry because he didn't get what he wanted. He lay on his bed, sulking and refused to eat.”
Now, I must tell you that I read this on a day when Shereen and I were looking to move to a different place. We had put in an offer and it was rejected, and I was feeling quite upset by this. I was kind of moping around the house and saying to God, “Why is this happening to us?” And the next morning, we opened up our Bibles to do our reading, and we read this. Ahab not getting what he wanted and sulking.
For me, it was a real wake up call. And I wonder if maybe it will be for you too. Are you the type who sulks and gets sullen and angry if things don't go your way? Read verse four again and see yourself in Ahab.
Jesus Never Sulked
The great Methodist minister and writer William Sangster once wrote this in one of his books: “One of the greatest dangers which can befall any man is that he should lapse into a state of self-pity, that he should look so long and so intently at his troubles that he becomes a martyr to this most debilitating of mental disorders and whine his way through life, constantly seeking an audience which will listen to the long tail of his woe. It would be hard to exaggerate the dangers of self-pity.” And then he says, “can Christ save us from self-pity? None better. One can comb the record of his days with care, and not find a trace of this vice. He suffered the cruelest treatment from his enemies and from some he thought his friends. But his sensitive soul was never ensnared into self-pity.” And he says that “Christ's heart was so occupied with love for others that it secured him against self-pity.” What a contrast to King Ahab, who was sullen, angry and sulking because he didn't get what he wanted.
Repenting of Self-Pity
Join me in repenting of your self-pity and your sulking and pray for God to work in your heart, to cleanse you of this sin and give you such a love for others that you've got no time to fixate on your own problems and be filled with self-pity.
God can do it. God can save you and make you like Christ instead of like King Ahab.
